The Prince of Masyaf
by Eboyv
Summary: After learning the truth of Al Mualim's intentions, Altair is put in a dire situation. So he grabs two horses, kidnaps the Jerusalem Dai, Malik, and instead of facing the problems at hand, trades his fate to the scorching Arabian Desert far away from the threats of a certain holy artifact. What ensues later you'll have to read and find out :) [AltMal]


_Pairing: Altair/Malik_

_Summary: After knowing the truth of Al Mualim's intentions, Altair is put in a very sticky situation. So he grabs two horses, kidnaps Malik- his only trusted friend- and high-tails it out of Masyaf and into the scorching Arabian Desert. What ensues, you'll have to read to find out. [Altair/Malik]_

_Warning: Contains foul language, sexual content, and violence. _

_This a present for my best friend, Meghan. Hope she likes :) Fact: When the idea of this fic first popped into my head, I ended up sobbing randomly in the car. _

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_No. No this can't be true. Everything is a lie? _The horse hooves that pounded so heavily against the ground sent his mind pulsing in an agonizing fury of thoughts. The familiar sweat that varnished his brow now burned his eyes revealing the sun attempting its escape from its silver prison. The blood on his lip and the hot burning of his wounds grew ever more apparent as he approached Jerusalem, the King's words echoing at the back of his pained mind. _'Peace is what you fight for? Peace? Do you see the contradiction?' _But it had been his life's training, the world that he had been brought into, his heritage. Now, the ways, the creed, everything seemed to be just a vague tombstone, the scripture weathered down to something he could not read. _'We come into the world kicking and screaming, violent and unstable. It is what we are. We cannot help ourselves.' _

_Every man is born to fight, yes. But is every man born to kill? _He thinks, gripping so tightly that the reins dig into his cracked and blistered hands. _'Your master is only human. As are we as well.' _The horse's labored breath drew even sharper as he pulled back, causing it to rear and stumbled just outside the city gates. '_As are you, Altair Ibn-La'Ahad' _Letting out a cry of annoyance and aggravation he pushed the horse away as it struggled to get a foothold. But as he was released from the ground, his feet took flight and he bolted into the city, taking no head to the guards that raised their arrows or drew their swords. There was no fight in him left, no reason to serve his master. Not even his brotherhood deemed a reason suitable for his fate. He knew now that if he returned to Masyaf, nothing could be the same. And what awaited him there was even worse than he could possibly imagine.

His master was part of this whole plot all along. For it was not nine men he was sent to kill. It was ten men he was destined to slaughter. And slaughter he had the poor nine souls that greeded for this holy artifact of eden. Nothing. Nothing would define reason for these assassinations though. Before he had some type of grip, some lead or reason to drive a blade through a man's throat or bosom. Once, he had a feeling of justice while he saw the light fade from his victim's eyes. But that feeling was gone. _Was it? I don't even know what is real and what is not anymore. _But there was one thing that he did find assurance in.

As he swung himself onto the roof using an iron-barred window, stone and sand crumbled away at his weight, staggering him to roll upon the searing roof. "Malik!" He cried out, leaping over an alley and towards the sanctuary's gated roof.

Closed.

Of course it was closed.

The cries of the guards snarled all around him and as he was forced to draw his blade into action, he was rammed into by one of the men. _Shit _he mentally growled as he burst through the gated entrance and into the Assassin's den. He could hear the Dai snarl in surprise, coming out from behind his table and drawing an idle blade. "Altair you moron!" with a few slices an unfortunate guard had fallen next to Altair's head as the assassin finally plunged his blade into the attacking guard's chest. The chain-mill regrettably did not reach to his heart, and in just a single dying breath another soul had been added. "Altair, what are you thinking!? You must be a madman! You are compromising the brotherho-Altair!?" In an instant he had grabbed Malik by the throat of his robe and dragged him through the door in the back and into the citizen-crowded streets. There, after much struggling from the confused and angry dai, Malik was thrown to the cobblestone ground.

"Malik. Listen to me. All that we've known is a lie. Everything. Our master. Our order. The brotherhood. He did not wish to end the Crusades. He did not wish to scrape the evil off this world. He wished to control it. Through the apple, he wants to control us all... and kill me, who stands in his way." Malik's face had defined what he had expected- confusion, incomprehension, and more than anything... pity.

"Altair... do you really think that Al Mualim, our mentor, the man that has raised us since we were just children would want to kill us?"

"I don't want to believe it. But it is the truth."

"Then what lies have corrupted your judgement?! Robert? Or maybe that King Lionheart?"

"Neither and yet both."

"You make no since."

"I don't have to."

"Why not?"

"Because we are leaving."

"Repeat again, Brother."

"_We are leaving, _Malik. Clear your ears and open your eyes. The world we have known, that we have been raised and taught to fear and yet master. It has been crumbled into oblivion and set to the wind. Our ways of life are shattered by those we trusted the most."

"_They have given only you no reason to trust._"

"And isn't that enough for you!?"

"_No." _Scrambling from the ground, he pushed past him to reenter his shop, realizing only then that guards had surrounded them and the once crowded street had cleared. Archers loomed over them with their arrows drawn, eyes craving for bloodshed.

"You will die today, heathen."

"No. There is only you who will taste death." he muttered, drawing his sword only to find out of the corner of his eye an arrow releasing and puncturing into Malik's right shoulder. He cried out, gripping it and yet abandoning the stuck arrow to swing his sword at an oncoming horde of guards. One would think two against at least twenty would make Altair rethink his actions and admit a mistake... but the only mistake was drawn by that unknowing archer. In just a single moment, the guard responsible fell from his perch, a knife digging straight into his heart as Altair grabbed a body already struck down to shield them from the rain of arrows and swords. The clashing of metal, the threats of death, they all rang into the once peaceful air as he grabbed Malik by his arm and ran.

This battle could not have been even close to as fierce as the speed he took to escape the city. Halfway through, he finally was able to let go of Malik, causing him to stumble yet barely keep pace. But Altair could hear the ragged and sharp breath's of Malik. He was unworked. Ever since that unforgettable night in Solomon's Temple, where not only his rank or respect, but Malik's brother was destroyed. Being placed at the rank of a dai, though a high rank it was, had no labor or action to test the assassin's body. And it was all too evident Malik had not trained on his own.

He could see just ahead the gates slowly being pushed shut. But they would not be caged in like dogs, they would not fall victim to the city's wrath nor would they allow fate to claim their lives. Today, the guards could not touch them as they ran straight between the giant doors. Today, the horses they stole, the one he shoved Malik onto rode faster that any horses in Syria. Today, their loyalty lies within themselves, not in Masyaf nor his brethren, nor his creed. Nothing they could ever have hoped or dreamed for would be enough to save them from the world they had left behind... yet it was not by choice that they relinquished it. And for one in particular, it wasn't a decision worth his life.

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_To Be Continued..._

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_This is just a little taste of what's to come. Kind of the starter. If you're interested in it continueing, follow me, favorite it, or even better, review! Tell me what you think :) _

_Of course, it's going to continue anyways... but it always inspires me to write faster when my gmail blows up in reviews! :)_


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